The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 868 - 647: Competition is Stability

While William and his group were actively selling off assets in London, Arthur in Australasia had already begun to strategize the government’s next move.@@@@

The domestic development of Australasia was under Cabinet control, and Arthur felt relatively assured. However, the two junior partners still needed to be brought under further control, giving them additional tasks that would bind them more closely under the leadership of Australasia.

The first was the newly established Kalimantan Sultanate. Although only occupying two-thirds of Kalimantan Island, it was divided into eight ruling regions, and there was a nominal region of the Great Sultanate, which in reality was left for the eight major Sultanates to vie for.

Under the supervision of the Australasian Government, the relocation of the indigenous peoples was fairly smooth.

Although there was no concrete idea of the total indigenous population, the number of indigenous people that had relocated to Kalimantan Island during this period had exceeded 2 million, pushing the island’s total population over 5 million and giving the Kalimantan Great Sultanate a substantial foundation.

However, in reality, the stability of Kalimantan Island’s eight indigenous powers was not so secure. The first issue was the contradictions between each of the eight indigenous powers.

Although their ruling regions were demarcated, as Sultans and leaders of indigenous powers, it was completely impossible for them not to harbor ambitions.

However, there wasn’t much difference between the eight indigenous powers’ ruling regions; the territory sizes were approximately equal, and their populations had become relatively balanced under Australasian policy.

In addition, the internal dynamics of these indigenous powers included various ethnic groups, making the political environment within the Kalimantan Great Sultanate extremely chaotic and adding uncertainty to the Sultanate election.

The good news was that, in such an environment, the influence of Australasia over the Kalimantan Great Sultanate became even more effective.

No matter who became the first leader of the Great Sultanate, without the support of Australasia, they were destined to be trapped in the vortex of strife among the eight indigenous powers.

Especially for the one who became Sultan – without strong support, the status of Sultan would not bring any benefits, but would instead become a thorn in the side of others.

In such a situation, to maintain their position, cooperation with Australasia would be essential, and this was Australasia’s transparent strategy for controlling the Kalimantan Great Sultanate.

Though it was an overt strategy, none of the indigenous powers would reject it. Because upon becoming Sultan, under the premise of lifetime election, they would be the lifelong Sultan of the country, already one step ahead in status and influence compared to the other indigenous powers.

If they performed well, hereditary succession was not out of the question. After all, the situation in Kalimantan was dictated by Australasia. With the support of Australasia, what was the harm in transitioning elected Monarchism to hereditary Monarchism?

This is also how Australasia had truly mastered the British policy of balance, understanding how to implement a balance of power in a region, and extract themselves as much as possible from the area.

As a result, the competition on Kalimantan Island not only didn’t affect Australasia but also made the indigenous powers gravitate towards Australasia involuntarily, seeking help from Australasia.

It appeared that the eight major indigenous powers were electing a compelling ruler to be Sultan, but in reality, it was Australasia selecting a more compliant person from the eight rulers to govern the region on its behalf.

Moreover, the distance between Kalimantan Island and the native land of Australasia rendered the island virtually impossible to escape from Australasia’s control.

Leaving aside the racial differences, with such vast disparities in language, culture, religion, and intellectual concepts, it was impossible for Australasia to accept their loyalty.

Maybe in a few decades or even after a hundred years, assimilated indigenous individuals could successfully join Australasia, but definitely not now.

Without starting training from childhood and experiencing several generations of assimilation, their loyalty was questionable.

It was also due to the distribution of Kalimantan Island’s eight major indigenous powers that the choice of the first Great Sultan of Kalimantan was already determined.

From Muhammad’s area of governance, it was clear that his dominion was at the heart of Kalimantan Island and could connect and influence any indigenous force.

The sole flaw of his territory was the lack of a seaport, and the ruling area of the Great Sultanate was just right to compensate for this deficiency.

Moreover, by having a different ethnicity from the other indigenous powers, appointing an individual upsetting to other indigenous forces to govern the entire Great Sultanate could, in fact, bring greater stability to the country.

Of course, this notion of stability refers to the Great Sultanate’s allegiance to Australasia. As for internal stability within the Sultanate itself, that would test Muhammad’s true abilities.

However, with his mixed heritage enabling him to attain a General’s military rank in the racially conscious Dutch East Indies, it was credible that Muhammad had a certain level of competence.

Provided he remained obedient, Arthur did not mind strengthening his rule over the Great Sultanate of Kalimantan, turning him into a compliant hunting dog.

The indigenous people from Sulawesi Island were mostly dispatched to Muhammad’s ruling area.

This bolstered Muhammad’s population count, ensuring he was no longer a force without a ruling foundation; he now had his own population to govern.

Whether he could sustain his military with this population was now a test of Muhammad’s real capability.

After all, to be a qualified ruler of a country, one must possess not only decent military skills but also achieve success in domestic affairs, at least not being utterly incompetent economically.

To cater to these relocated indigenous nations of Kalimantan Island, Australasia provided these indigenous forces with grain assistance.

Although this aid was free of charge, most of the time, the free things are the most expensive.

Australasia had already been widely publicizing within the Great Sultanate of Kalimantan the Australasian Government’s support for them and specifically emphasized that it was free of charge.

While this would not necessarily change the indigenous people’s views of Australasia, at least through this free grain aid and Australasia’s previous moderate policies toward the indigenous, they could understand Australasia’s attitude toward the indigenous, which was completely different from that of the Netherlands.

Provided their lives were not threatened, it was believed that a portion of the indigenous would be wise enough not to openly resist Australasian rule.

With control over both the upper echelons and the grassroots, Australasia’s rule on Kalimantan Island would be deeply entrenched, and there would no longer be as much resistance as there had been in the Dutch East Indies.